This is the latest installment in Waste Dive’s Biogas Monthly series.
Amid broader macroeconomic uncertainty in the first quarter of the year, the RNG industry reported reasons for optimism. Multiple publicly traded developers reported growth in their portfolios as more projects come online.
The trend comes as the industry awaits the finalization of the reconciliation bill working through Congress, which would have mixed effects on tax credits relevant to biogas.
Opal Fuels, which is growing its fueling station network alongside multiple RNG development projects, reported a strong first quarter. The company's revenue was up 31% year over year, to $85.4 million. Milestones for the quarter included a 38% increase in RNG produced year over year and the $8.9 million sale of investment tax credits generated by the company.
BP, which owns Archaea Energy, has shuffled the RNG developer into its gas and low-carbon energy segment. That's changed its reporting for the business somewhat, but BP is still expecting Archaea to have positive cash flow by 2026, CFO Kate Thomson said on the company's earnings call on April 29. Archaea has brought three plants online this year, including two with Rumpke Waste & Recycling.
Clean Energy Fuels, which primarily operates RNG fueling stations, reported revenue was roughly even in the first quarter with the same period last year. The company reported several new RNG supply agreements with transit agencies, but its RNG volumes were down 12.8% year over year, which the company attributed to weather impacts.
Rumpke partners with Archaea on two projects
Two landfill-gas-to-RNG projects opened at Rumpke landfills in southern Ohio, the company announced. The two plants, built by Archaea, add to Rumpke’s network of RNG-producing facilities that both fuel portions of its fleet and power homes.
The Beech Hollow Landfill in Wellston has a 3,200 scfm plant and the Pike Sanitation Landfill in Waverly has a 2,000 scfm plant.
Rumpke was the first landfill owner to debut Archaea's modular designed system in 2023. Since opening that Indiana plant, the companies have continued to partner. Rumpke owns 16 landfills and has nine landfill-gas-to-energy plants.
Northern Biogas to build Indiana plant
Elkhart County, Indiana, is partnering with private equity-backed Northern Biogas for an RNG system, WVPE reported. The developer expects the new facility will reach full capacity by late 2026.
The county is projected to earn more than $40 million from the facility under a 20-year agreement with Northern Biogas. At the end of the contract, ownership of the site is set to transfer to Elkhart County.
Northern Biogas was founded in 2004 with a focus on servicing dairy manure digesters, which primarily generated heat and power. In 2019, they began converting projects to commercial RNG production.
H.I.G. Capital, based in New York, invested in Northern Biogas in 2022, per its website. Northern acquired three dairy RNG sites in 2023, and continues to expand into the landfill space.
H.I.G. also backs waste companies like AERT, a publicly traded plastics recycling technology provider, and Arc, which leases waste equipment.
Veolia to produce RNG at wastewater treatment plant
Veolia North America signed a $34 million contract to upgrade the biogas treatment technology at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's Southeast Treatment Plant. The plant is expected to inject RNG into Pacific Gas & Electric's natural gas grid when operational in June 2027. The project is expected to produce the equivalent of 68 gigawatt-hours per year in energy.
Veolia previously installed its membrane biogas upgrading system at the Oakland wastewater treatment plant in Topeka, Kansas. That facility process up to 530 scfm of biogas.
The company has set goals to increase its beneficial reuse of resources. Veolia has installed more than 45 anaerobic digestion systems globally.
Vanguard Renewables opens depackaging site on farm
Vanguard opened an anaerobic digestion facility capable of processing food and beverage waste at Dinnerbell Farms in Eden, Wisconsin. The site is expected to produce liquid digestate and animal bedding in addition to RNG fromboth packaged and unpackaged materials.
Vanguard is in the process of developing a network of such facilities in the Midwest. Its next Wisconsin site at the Peterson Family Dairy in River Falls is expected to begin accepting materials later this year. Both sites are still contracting for additional feedstocks.
Vanguard, a portfolio company of Blackrock's Global Infrastructure Partners, says it has a pipeline of projects in more than 30 markets in various stages of development.
Charlotte Motor Speedway Landfill to produce RNG
Republic Services, which owns the Charlotte Motor Speedway Landfill in Concord, North Carolina, is partnering with Opal Fuels to develop an RNG production plant at the site.
The project will upgrade an existing landfill gas-to-energy facility. Its design capacity is projected to be about 1.4 million mmBtus, per a release.
